The Political Prisoners Formerly on Hunger Strike at Evin Finally Allowed to Meet with their Families

Monday August 23rd, 2010 – The 15 political prisoners at Evin’s ward 350 who had been on hunger strike for over two weeks, had spent three to four weeks in solitary confinement, and had been deprived of any visitation rights for a month, finally met with their families today. Although the families described the prisoners in good spirit, they also stated that they had lost plenty of weight.

The families quoted the 17 political prisoners as saying that on the night of their transfer to solitary confinement, tens of anti riot police were lined in front of Evin’s ward 350, all armed with batons and tear gas. More than anything, this issue had bewildered the families who questioned why such a show of force had been necessary in order to transfer 17 defenseless political prisoners from the general ward to solitary confinement.

During the visit with their families, the prisoners also confirmed the validity of the reports of threats by prison officials, particularly from Bozorgnia and Sedaghat. Most of the political prisoners informed their families that they were grateful for the show of support by individuals both within the country and abroad, and in particular thanked the leaders of the Green movement Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi for their messages of support, reiterating that this widespread support had led to their encouragement during this difficult time.